Liverpool FC battle back in US court
The fate of Liverpool football club could be decided today as the club’s American owners return to a Texas court in a last-ditch attempt to block the club’s sale.
A High Court judge in London yesterday dismissed the US based injunction which would have preventing the sale, but Tom Hicks and George Gillett have headed back to a Texas court to make their final appeal.
A Texas court will reconvene at 1pm British Standard Time (BST) – just three hours before the 4pm deadline to repay a £240m loan to the Royal Bank of Scotland.
If Liverpool fail to reach the deadline, they could face administration.
“We’re nearly there,” said Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton.
“But we’ve still got to take away the restraining order.”
Broughton remains hopeful that the £300 million sale to NESV, headed by Boston Red Sox owner John W Henry, will go through.
He said he hoped to have a deal in place for Henry to attend Sunday’s Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.
“Mr Henry is very committed. My guess is we’ll have it done and he’ll be there – but we’ve got to get rid of this order first,” Broghton said.
“Mr Henry is very committed. My guess is we’ll have it done and he’ll be there but we’ve got to get rid of this order first.” Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton
John w Henry vowed to put up a fight, tweeting: “We have a binding contract. Will fight Mill Hicks Gillett attempt to keep club today. Their last desperate attempt to entrench their regime.”
Yesterday, Mr Justice Floyd told London’s High Court that Hicks and Gillett had acted with “unconscionable conduct” in their efforts to secure the restraining order in a US court.
Mr Justice Floyd granted new anti-suit injunctions to nullify the decisions of the Texan court and set a deadline of 4pm today to comply.
Yesterday he had ruled in London’s High Court that the English directors of the club could agree a £300m takeover by John W Henry’s New England Sport Group.
Texas court case a 'grotesque parody of the truth'
With no lawyers present for Hicks ands Gillett it was for RBS and LFC lawyers to take the floor, writes Channel 4 News reporter Keme Nzerem. An hour of both highfalutin and humorous legal argument followed, peppered with the kind of language usually deployed by Hollywood screenwriters.
Hicks and Gillett's Texas court case was a "Grotesque parody of the truth... An intentional failure to provide full and frank disclosure... Frankly preposterous, unfair, and unjust" said Lord Grabiner QC for LFC.
He asked the court to provide the Texas judge with a new judgement detailing that Hicks and Gillett had approached them only because the hearing in London had failed them.
Mr Snowdon QC for RBS said Hicks and Gillett's Texas injunction was "the most outrageous abuse of process"... and "plainly inappropriate".
The claim for damages against Ayre and Purslow were "scurrilous allegations which even in American terms is florid language" and the stunning feature of the Texas injunction was no evidence was found, "the judge made his order solely on the basis of unfounded allegations".
Lawyers for NESV said if the restraining order was not lifted by this afternoon, Hicks and Gillett would have prevented the sale going through before the deadline to creditors.
David Chivers QC, who told the judge his clients NESV already considered themselves the new owners of Liverpool, asked the judge for a speedy serving of his orders so the deal with NESV could be completed and money transferred from the US.
“It is a plain attempt to frustrate and impede the proceedings. It is a contempt of the Texas court.” Richard Snowden QC for RBS
Richard Snowden QC, for RBS, said there were no legal representatives for Hicks and Gillett in court even though they had been informed of the latest move.
“The proceedings in Texas are plainly inappropriate,” Snowden told the court.
“This dispute involves an English football club and three English companies and has no connection with Texas other than that Hicks and Gillett may reside there.
“It is a plain attempt to frustrate and impede the proceedings.”
Mr Snowden told the judge Hicks and Gillett were applying in Texas for an order that Wednesday’s board meeting in the UK was “a contempt of the Texas court”.
Who Knows Who: Liverpool FC - will you ever walk again?